The Ninja Way: Shippuden's Horizon
by BluKage
Summary: In Konoha, she found a home and people to love. But it wasn't to last long as she was ripped away from it. Now in the snake's clutches, she resolves to make it back home, not only for herself, but to change the very course of Shippuden. But then, she discovers that she is a greater part of this world than she had previously imagined. Sequel to The Ninja Way
1. Prologue

_The wait is over! Finally we have here the sequel to **The Ninja Way**! Let my birthday be commemorated by a glimpse into a surprise development with the Akatsuki._

 _I do not own Naruto_

* * *

PROLOGUE

As always, rain fell unceasingly upon Amegakure. Villagers went about their business regardless of the downpour - they were long used to it. Far above the grey metropolis, in the mouth of a large grey statue with its tongue out malevolently, a lone figure sat upon the outstretched tongue.

Wearing a cloak of black patterned with red clouds, grey-purple, ringed eyes stared out at the village intensely. He blinked on hearing footsteps behind him and merely turned his head to the side in acknowledgement.

"Konan, what news?"

A woman stepped out of the shadows, dressed in as similar cloak. Her pale, petite face stood out in the rain and heavily lidded amber eyes stared aloofly ahead. Soft, pastel blue hair gathered in a bun atop her head, was adorned with a white origami rose made of paper. "Pein." She spoke in a muted voice. "The Mizukage has been killed successfully. Zetsu has heard that Terumi Mei is to be the Yondaime Mizukage."

"Very well." Pein spoke quietly. "The other tailed beasts are our priority now. The nine-tails shall be kept for the last. Begin reconnaissance on all the tailed beasts."

Konan bowed and burst into a flurry of paper that gracefully fluttered away above Amegakure. After the last of the paper was out of sight, the orange haired leader tilted his head sideways again, spotting another shadowed figure standing at the back of the statue's mouth.

"Pein."

"Madara."

The two greetings exchanged were almost silent under the rain. The newcomer stood at the back of the mouth of the statue, wearing a simple black cloak but what stood out on the person, was his bright orange mask that was shaped like a swirl, converging into a hole where his right eye would be.

Suddenly, the wind around them changed, making them look up. Instead of falling to the earth, the rain's path was breaking and getting swept sideways due to the abruptly powerful surge of wind swirling near the outskirts. With no words exchanged, the two shinobi disappeared from their spots to appear where the wind was uniting in a weak form of a tornado.

"GYAAAAAH!"

Startled, the men looked up to see a figure plummeting from the sky. Pein extended a hand and immediately slowed down the figure's descent. Slowly, the figure touched the ground in a curled up ball.

A hand came out and hesitantly touched the earth. "I'm...I'm alive?" Ignoring the two shinobi staring at him, the boy gave a huge sigh of relief "Oh man, I thought I was a goner! But how the heck did I survive?"

Just then, he realized the presence of two other people and looked up nervously. When he saw them clearly, his mouth fell open. He blinked rapidly, rubbed his eyes, slapped himself and mumbled "It's a dream...I'm dreaming..."

"Where are you from?" Pein asked in his deep voice, startling the boy.

The boy stared at the two of the silently, wondering how to answer. He was gangly and thin, a pale look to his skin. Crow black hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and light blue eyes widened when Pein spoke. "Answer me, boy." The Leader demanded.

"I...uh...I'm not sure you'll believe me..." the boy mumbled, his voice growing smaller and smaller towards the end.

"That's not up to you to decide." Tobi chirped, flailing his arms dramatically.

The boy stared at him for a minute, a laugh spurting out but dying immediately on seeing Pein's impassive face.

"He seems nothing special. Must be a wind release jutsu gone wrong." Tobi concluded, nodding to himself.

"Dispose of him." Pein spoke briefly, turning to go back.

The boy panicked and cried out "I have information! I have useful information that you could use to capture all the tailed beasts!"

The two men froze and turned towards him sharply. The boy smirked inwardly, formulating a plan quickly. "I...I can tell the future and I know of Akatsuki's goals." Remembering something, he added "If you think I'm lying, Uchiha-san's Sharingan can confirm that."

The two men were in silence for a long time and the boy felt dread fill him by the minute. Would they consider him too dangerous to live? Gulping, he closed his eyes in case someone suddenly sliced his throat or stabbed him. "You will tell us all that you know."

Pein's baritone voice boomed out in the silence, scaring the boy who toppled sideways with a yelp and his hands over his head. "Huh?" when he discovered he wasn't dead, he looked up to find a Rinnengan and a Sharingan gaze trained on him. "Oh yeah, sure! Anything you want!" he blabbered quickly.

Pein turned away again, walking briskly "Tobi, make sure our guest, is well attended to."

"Of course." The voice that came from the mask this time, was deep instead of the comical one that came before. "We're going to have a very long talk, aren't we?"

The boy shivered but tried to hide it, obediently standing beside the masked man. He felt his consciousness slip away as his surroundings became a swirl and disappeared.

* * *

A few thousand miles away, in Konohagakure,

Crack!

"Hm?" Tsunade glanced at the cup of tea that had suddenly cracked at the bottom. She frowned heavily at that and reached for her drawer, taking out a lottery ticket from it.

After scratching it out, she scowled when she saw she had won. A small amount, but she won something nonetheless. _'What could this mean...?'_

Before she could ponder on it, there was a knock on her door to reveal Shizune. "Tsunade-sama, Kakashi-san is here to see you."

The Hokage nodded and pushed the thoughts of the cracked cup out of her mind. "Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed in greeting. "I've come to give my report on my jutsu's progress."

Tsunade immediately performed a swift set of hand seals and soundproofed the room. Then she gestured to him to continue. "It seems that her theory is very much possible."

She gasped and stared at Kakashi, who nodded solemnly. "Do you know what this means, Kakashi?" she whispered in a strained voice. Not speaking, he simply nodded again.

Clearing his throat, he said "However, it is nearly impossible for me to control the time period. The farther we go, the more chakra it requires. If it exceeds 2 years, then I do not have the needed amount of chakra."

"Yes, that is a problem. Leave that to me. You concentrate on controlling the time period." Tsunade concluded, looking at him from over her interlaced hands. "Oh and, how is your subject?"

Kakashi's eye-smiled "Considering he went back a month on the first trial, Gekko-san is quite well, just a little disoriented." Tsunade chuckled and they fell into silence until he spoke again "Ano Hokage-sama..."

Tsunade sighed, knowing what he was going to ask. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. The Anbu haven't gotten any close to finding Orochimaru's lair."

Even though his expression didn't change, she knew that Kakashi was deeply dejected by the news. Ever since that time, he still kept tabs on Naruto. But his other two missing students...there hadn't been any news of them since then.

The sky had grown dark grey, preparing to cry upon Konoha any minute. Kakashi was once again at the memorial stone and there he stayed even as the sky opened up and poured down on him. He sighed deeply 'This isn't the rain Konoha needs now.'

What Kakashi didn't know, was that Konoha's Hokage wasn't the only one making active efforts in hunting for the lair. Tsunade glanced at the most recent scroll she had received from the Kazekage himself. It seemed that the quiet Jinchuuriki had his heart touched by Ame as well and had offered any help possible to aid Konoha in their search.

* * *

Cold winds howled and hurled through the sand of Sunagakure, but it made no difference to the lone, red haired figure standing at his balcony. "Gaara."

The figure turned around, blinking his jade eyes silently. "Dinner is served." Temari spoke quietly and retreated out of the room. Gaara didn't move from his spot. He turned to watch the dust storm developing on the outskirts of the village. But all that came to his mind were brilliant amber eyes streaked with blue. Their interaction had been brief, but along with Naruto, she had given him something to think about.

But her sunny smile had given him warmth that he hadn't felt for a very long time _'If I could, but see that smile once more.'_

* * *

"Naruto! We have to go for dinner!"

"Yeah! I'm coming, ero sannin!"

"Shut up and hurry up, brat!"

"Go die of a nosebleed, ero sannin!" Naruto grumped out and continued scrounging through his bag for his money pouch. He had learnt not to leave it with Jiraiya around. His fingers touched a corner of a paper and he pinched it out.

His expression softened on seeing the photograph in his hands. It was of him and Ame at the ramen stand, celebrating after Naruto got his hitae-ite and Teuchi had volunteered to click a picture of theirs. The photo was dog eared and quite creased, but that didn't make a difference to the bright smiles in it.

"Ame-chan..." he mumbled and sighed deeply. Seeing her mischievous and confident smile, he grinned "I know you'll be okay."

* * *

A thousand miles away, a pair of sharp, amber eyes snapped open in the darkness.

* * *

 _Ta da! Thank you for waiting so long! It's Shippuden where the fun starts_

 _~Blu_


	2. Unfeeling

_Yo Minna! I was kinda surprised to see the number of reviews just on the prologue, but I saw a lot old faces! So welcome back to those guys!_

 _Note: This chapter and the next one will be slightly smaller than usual. I'll get back to the usual though, don't worry._

 _I don't own Naruto_

* * *

UNFEELING

"Ame, wake up." A voice spoke monotonously. She shifted as fingers wound themselves gently into her hair, combing it out slowly.

She sat up slowly, staring blankly as he continued to slowly stroke her neck and her arms. His hands repeatedly were going over her form, as if making sure that she wasn't going to disappear. He had started doing this since she had screamed at him that she would one day, leave this place. His answer had been an eerily blank face, merely cocking his head at her and answering _"No, you won't."_

They stayed in silence, with her not reacting a bit with the intimate touches. After a minute, she turned to look at him. "I'm up." She sighed tiredly and swatted Sasuke's hand away. He merely stared impassively and left the room. Even though it was daylight, there was a candle on a nearby platform to provide a pitiful amount of illumination to the dank, dim room.

Slowly but with practiced movements, she gathered her long hair into a pony tail and splashed freezing cold water onto her face. Blinking rapidly, she got dressed. She glanced at her arm, which was a sickly pale colour, trying to remember when was the last time she had a decent meal. Shrugging, she wondered how Sasuke managed to look the same with the same amount of meals as her.

Before she left the room, she checked the spot where she had hidden her hitae-ite, to prevent it from being taken away, or worse, having it slashed through. She made sure every day that no one could get to it. The first person who had tried to take it - a foolish henchman of Orochimaru - had gotten his arm snapped in a fit of rage.

Her face felt blank and she knew she looked tired. Ever since she came here, she had scarcely been able to see her reflection anywhere, but now she didn't have any desire to see it at all. She knew what she'd see and that scared her. She didn't want to see her pallid face, her dead eyes, her bones that stood out sharply and her limp and dull hair.

As she walked through the candle-lit, stone corridors, everyone in her path skittered to the sides, pressing themselves to the walls. She didn't bat an eyelash at that - it was to be expected with her violent displays in the first month here.

* * *

In a span of a month of her arrival in Orochimaru's lair, Ame had been reduced to nothing more than a frightened animal, her eyes darting frantically everywhere and her arms curled protectively around herself and hiding in corners while Sasuke was separated from her. Anyone who tried even getting close to her got an electric shock from a lightning release jutsu.

When Orochimaru finally ordered his henchmen to end her and Sasuke had not been in the room - that was when she had finally snapped.

Sasuke had stiffened when an unearthly wail sounded throughout the lair, echoing through the large halls and sounding like a tortured animal being shocked or burnt. He had run towards the source to see Ame crying hysterically on the floor, drenched in blood - the blood of all the henchmen, who now all lay in separate pieces around her.

He couldn't forget how she wouldn't stop shaking in his arms as he had silently carried her back to their room. She whispered continuously, unintelligible words loosely stringed together, screamed at him, tried to choke him and banged on the walls. All through it, Sasuke had refused to let go of her and held her until she finally fell asleep out of exhaustion.

Orochimaru had merely smiled widely, finally understanding her worth. Therefore, he had taken it upon himself to train her along with Sasuke. After the first month, Ame had learnt that in order to survive here, she had to shut herself off from everything. With a pang of sorrow, she hid away the person she had once been in Konoha. Now, only a ruthless kunoichi with a blank sheet for her face, existed in her place.

* * *

She hated to think of it, but Sasuke was the only thing keeping her sane. The sights she had seen in the place for the past one year was enough to drive anyone to insanity. Even though Sasuke had become emotionless and hostile, when it was just the two of them, he was only emotionless. He had insisted on Orochimaru letting them stay in the same room, refusing to begin training otherwise. Ame had been thankful for that, as they had spent many sleepless nights with nightmares plaguing their dreams, thankful that they had each other to turn to.

The first time she had seen Sasuke wake up from a nightmare, was akin to watching a crazed person hunting for cover from an attack. His eyes had darted restlessly throughout the room, his breathing ragged, until they rested on her. Without a word, he closed his arms around her. Ame had merely sat quietly, feeling him trembling until he had fallen asleep again. She had lain awake the whole night, refusing to sleep.

After three more months, Ame had begun to plan her escape.

She began with simply roaming the hallways and keeping a sharp eye out for the entrances and exits from the hideout. That alone, had taken her an entire month. Then, she began to know the guards at each section of the lair, noting their strengths and weaknesses. Again, this had taken a long time due to the men been frequently disposed of. Finally, she began to collect a whole lot of money.

Every time she went on missions with Sasuke, she went on a bounty in the same area. Most of the time, it paid decently and when she was lucky, it paid a huge amount. Sasuke had no qualms about it as she had simply said that she wanted to hoard the money for future use. Also, with her abilities, it wasn't very difficult for her to take down the ones with larger bounties. But however ruthless she had become, she refused to kill good shinobi, going only after missing-nin or criminals.

Her training with Orochimaru had consisted of increasing her speed to an abnormal level and combined with her teleportation jutsu, her speed became almost godly. Possibly only Sasuke proved to be a worthy opponent to her now. Other than that, Orochimaru taught her to assassinate by teaching her the vital points of a target.

Kabuto taught her very basic medical jutsu because she had no patience for advanced ones, but he also did teach her how to use chakra scalpels. She used that technique sparingly due to the insane amount of chakra control it required, even more so than her teleportation technique as it involved cutting human nerves or tissue which demanded far more accuracy.

* * *

Back in the present, Sasuke and Ame stood outside Orochimaru's chamber, waiting to be granted entrance.

"Ah good, you both are here." Orochimaru sneered unpleasantly, looking at Sasuke and Ame standing before him. "Here's your mission."

Kabuto stepped forth and handed a scroll to Sasuke. Ame simply stared ahead and followed Sasuke out when he turned to leave. Orochimaru still had no use of his arms and stayed mostly within the lair, sending Kabuto, Sasuke and herself out for important work.

Soon, they were off towards the Village of Grass to collect certain vials of precious chemicals that Orochimaru had been promised by some man. After 10 minutes of jumping silently from tree to tree, Ame opened her mouth "What's the date, Sasuke?"

He was quiet for a minute before answering "2nd November." Ame's voice caught in her throat. Almost a year now. Almost a year since she had last seen Konoha. Almost a year with this despicable snake. Almost a year of torture. She felt his gaze on her but said nothing, looking straight ahead. She knew that he thought of the same thing, but often she wondered, did Sasuke ever feel guilty dragging her away from everything she loved against her will?

Somewhere deep inside, she knew he didn't.

"Pleasure doing business." Ame spoke in a clipped tone, swiping her blade across the man's throat briefly and turning away as he began choking on his own blood with loud, gurgling noises. "Sasuke, do we have what we need?"

"Yeah." Sasuke turned away from the hole he had created in the cement wall and drew out two cloth bags full of vials. He gave a glance to the man's family cowering in the corner of the room and walked on.

When their terrified eyes met Ame's stony amber ones, she felt something come up but she pushed it down immediately and exited the house with Sasuke. "Another bounty?" he asked briefly.

She nodded and grabbed his arm, teleporting them both away. She was now able to teleport with two people now, though it severely depleted her chakra. After they had arrived at the place where her target had been last spotted, she checked her chakra and deemed it fit for an assassination. According to her bingo book, her target was nothing but a loan shark with plenty of enemies, however, the danger lay in the people who protected him - missing nin from Kumo.

"How long will you be?" Sasuke asked casually as they approached the mansion.

"15 minutes. Check out the closest drop-off point." She instructed before vanishing from the spot.

Kumo nin had mainly water jutsu as their prowess, hence Ame simply used lightning based jutsus on them and that too just two. As she jabbed a kunai through one throat, she absently reckoned that they must be Chuunin level ninjas at the most. Once the bodies of the missing nin lay scattered around the hall, she walked on to the bedroom where her target was hiding, flicking some blood off her blade.

As she opened the door, she paused on noticing the explosive seals laid in a circle around the target - an unpleasant man who looked nothing short of a swine – sneering at her. "Take a step closer and I'll activate them." He grunted.

She blinked, sighed and vanished, appearing behind him and quickly stuck two senbon needles in his temples. Soon, she was dragging the enormous body by the foot outside. Sasuke looked up from a book "You're in luck, the nearest one is just 10 minutes away." He glanced at her other hand which held a bag "What's in that?"

"Money." She answered shortly. "The guy had plenty to spare." Sasuke gave her a rare smirk and they both set off towards the drop off point.

Ame left the drop off point satisfied and two bags full of money. The journey back was a silent one. Dusk had fallen by the time they returned to the lair. Once she had tucked away her prizes, she accompanied Sasuke to dinner. They ate in silence, the only noise being their chopsticks clicking together.

As she chewed on a tasteless mouthful, she pondered about her plans. Most of it was in place. Her money, she calculated, would be good enough to last her for several months even if she could not travel back to Konoha. All she needed now were medical supplies because she knew that she won't be escaping unscathed.

A small smirk graced her lips as she decided her date of departure. After all, what better day to leave the dreaded place than the one she arrived on?

* * *

 _Bit dark, I know. But what do you expect in a place like that? Also, I would love to hear what you guys have to say about Sasuke's character development. This is my take on what his personality could have turned into, so lemme know!_

 _~Blu_


	3. Departure

_It's a Sunday and I have no tests, Hallelujah. Has anyone watched GANGSTA? Tell me I'm not the only one lovesick over Nicolas and Worick. Somebody, help me._

 _I don't own Naruto_

* * *

 **DEPARTURE**

On another day when Sasuke and Ame were in Orochimaru's presence, eating silently, Kabuto spoke up. "Orochimaru-sama, my medical supplies as of late, have been going missing."

Ame didn't react in any manner, mirroring Sasuke's expression as they continued to eat. "Is that so? Any sign of intruders?" Orochimaru hissed.

"None, my lord. The thief must be very good at concealing their presence." Kabuto spoke. A chuckle from Ame made him glare at her.

"Or maybe your sensors don't work anymore, Kabuto-chan." She drawled out mockingly.

"What do you mean?" Kabuto gritted out.

"Last night I saw someone leaving the infirmary and I heard no alarm, which clearly means that your sensors are useless, Kabuto." She spoke monotonously. Ame felt Sasuke's gaze sweep across her, before she continued "And, Sasuke and I visited the infirmary yesterday without setting anything off either."

Frustrated, Kabuto looked to Sasuke for confirmation, who only proceeded to ignore him. Orochimaru seemed amused, staying quiet. Kabuto seemed to be having difficulty in staying civil to the girl as he spoke slowly "Did you see what the intruder looked like?"

Ame paused before tilting her head to the side "They had a cloak on, but the slightly figure was female. She had a low enough chakra to slip past the sensors after weakening them." "Then, I shall excuse myself, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto gritted out, bowing to the sannin before speedily walking out of there.

"Did you really see an intruder, Ame-chan?" Orochimaru's high, cold voice suddenly spoke. Her chopsticks stuttered for a brief moment but she nodded her head silently. The sannin's only reaction was a small chuckle.

Sasuke sat impassively, standing up when Ame was finished and walking back to their room together. He felt that she was more on the edge than usual after talking to Orochimaru, so when she sat on their bed, he opened her hair tie, allowing her brown locks to come loose.

Pale hands threaded themselves through her hair, slowly running through the long strands. "Sasuke?" Ame whispered quietly in the darkness.

"Ssh." He whispered back, right next to her ear. Ame shivered and stiffened at the closeness, growing uncomfortable. Usually, she wouldn't say anything to him as such acts were routine now. But now, when she planned to escape soon, any intimate act from Sasuke felt as though he knew of her plan.

"Sleep." He said simply, brushing his fingers on her cheek briefly before turning and sitting on the ground to study some scrolls in the dim candlelight.

A feeling of an unease growing in her stomach, she closed her eyes and let her head fall to the pillow. Even after a while when the yellow light of the candle was blown out and Sasuke lay next to her, stroking her hair again, she could not fall asleep for a long time.

 _'I changed myself to survive here, but I fear that this façade will not be easy to shed, for I believe it has become a part of me now._  
 _Even if I do leave and go back to Konoha, will anyone recognize me for what I have become? Am I even an inkling of the person I once was?'_

Sasuke's eyes snapped awake when he heard something. A whisper so soft, that he thought he imagined it for a good 5 minutes. But what he heard from next to him made him tighten his arms around the slim, slightly thin figure beside him.  
"I'm sorry...I can't go back to her."

* * *

Ame was sitting outside the hideout, soaking up some rare bit of sunlight and thinking deeply. In her mind, she went over all the information she had gathered. She closed her eyes as she felt Sasuke's chakra leave the hideout and get fainter and fainter.

Sasuke leaving was a bit of luck she had not been expecting. Just the last night, she had overheard Orochimaru telling Kabuto about sending Sasuke on a solo mission. As soon as Sasuke's chakra had completely disappeared, she headed back to their room and began taking out all the supplies she had gathered on the way.

As she couldn't hide her stolen supplies in their room as Sasuke would find out, she had hidden them in separate spots all over the hideout. Gathering them alone took an hour due to the obscure places she had decided to hide them. Once in her room, she took out a scroll from her pocket and a pot of ink and a paintbrush.

Before leaving Konoha, she had studied one other seal besides the one that sealed in jutsus, but had never performed it although she remembered the seal accurately. It was a jutsu for storing items. She thought for a minute and then swiftly drew the seal she remembered on the scroll. Then, she placed her supplies on top of the seal and made a hand sign.  
With a poof of smoke, most of the supplies disappeared except her headband. She sighed _'How ironic that this would be the only thing I'd need to carry in the open'_

With a steely expression, she held her headband in her hand for a minute before tying it to her forehead tightly.  
It was time to go home.

* * *

A cold, merciless gust of wind howled continuously through the forest that surrounded the hideout. The moon hung like a giant orb in the sky, casting a dull glow over everything it touched. In the silvery glow hat bathed the giant hideout, a lithe shadow made its way to the top of the structure.

Ame jumped down silently and rolled forward when she hit the ground. Holding her breath for a moment to listen for any movement, she then began swiftly running in the opposite direction of the hideout.

She had travelled 100 meters or so when she gasped suddenly and leapt out of the way to avoid a noiseless but lethal shower of senbon needles that came her way. She glared into the trees where the needles came out of and spotted a familir figure step out with a sneer. "Going somewhere, Ame-chan?" Kabuto smiled nastily, casually fingering another needle in his hand. She didn't need to look closely at the needle to know that it was dripping with poison.

"Now why would I tell you that?" Ame replied calmly, but inwardly she was panicking as she knew she wouldn't come out of a battle with Kabuto unscathed.

"I was right to tell Orochimaru-sama not to trust you after all." He said loftily and Ame's eyes narrowed when his pinkie finger twitched ever so slightly. She immediately teleported out of her spot and found a shower of kunai where she was earlier.

"You always could see attacks coming. I guess it's one on one for us now." Kabuto snarled and lunged towards her with a hand glowing in blue.

Ame swore and leaned back to avoid it, bringing up her foot to kick his chin. He leapt back to dodge and threw another kunai at her. Ame's eyes widened when she spotted the explosive tag and vanished just a moment too late as when she landed in her new spot, her arm that had blocked the blast was burned slightly.

"Water release! Water cutting sword!" Ame released a deadly jet of water towards him, which he dodged narrowly. Kabuto gritted his teeth as he spotted a gash on his foot as a result. Narrowing her eyes, she leapt forward with a kunai and attacked swiftly, not giving Kabuto a chance to use his chakra scalpels as she used another kunai with wires attached to pull his hand out of the way whenever he tried to attack. With a yell of frustration, Kabuto broke out of those strings, only to freeze in his spot.

There were a dozen more wires tying his legs to the spot. Ame smiled and observed the ground which was all wet from her water jutsu earlier and raised her arms high "Lightning release! Lightning slam!" she cried out and slammed her hands on the ground, jumping off it at the same time and watched Kabuto scream as he got electrified.

However, she frowned as his screams cut off abruptly saw Kabuto had disappeared from the spot. When a familiar chakra signature flickered behind her, she panicked and vanished to another spot.

When the signature came stronger than before, she cursed _'It was a trap!'_ the next moment, she felt excruciating pain rip through her back. "GWAAAHH!" she screamed as Orochimaru's head swivelled out of nowhere to sink his fangs into her neck.

Her vision blurred abruptly and she felt her chakra going haywire inside her, painfully pounding through her veins and making her feel like she was being ripped apart from the inside. Suddenly, her back burnt and her breath constricted, making her choke and sink to her knees. "Wh-what did you do to me?!" she gasped out.

"A parting gift, if you will." Orochimaru hissed, dragging Kabuto's unconscious form behind him. "If you're so eager to be freed from me, then you shall." Blackness dotted her vision as Orochimaru's pale form drew closer, a kunai emerging from his tongue's hold.

 _'No no no! I REFUSE TO DIE HERE!'_ She bellowed in her mind and reached within her clothes to take out a small scroll. Grinning faintly, she opened the scroll towards Orochimaru and uttered "Kai."

There was a loud ringing in her ears as the forest was lit up with a fire jutsu that leapt out of the scroll with a roar accompanied by a shrill scream of rage from the one it was directed at. She could feel the fire searing her arms as well as she held out the scroll towards the fiend but she couldn't react to it. As abruptly as it came, the fire disappeared and she lay there for a while in silence, listening to the crickets chirping the grass.

Soon, she lifted herself off the ground, cringing in pain. She felt like she was underwater, her ears had a dull roaring in them and her body felt like it was being weighed down. Her movement was failing little by little and she knew she had to move forward before she lost all of it.

With the resolve burning within her, she teleported large distances rapidly, watching the forest go by her in a blur. She didn't know how long she had teleported but soon enough, her body began shutting down and legs seized up suddenly, making her fall to the ground with a groan. Her arms burned with the injuries from the fire and she breathed heavily, feeling her chakra begin to break up inside her.

As she lay in the open field, her bleary vision registered the first rays of sunlight slowly hitting the sky and her breathing slowed down. Now everything felt as though she was looking from a tunnel. Her body wouldn't respond, her chakra was dwindling away to nothing and her vision was almost entirely black now.

 _'At least I'm not dying there. This place seems pretty, sun rising and all that.'_  
Just before she slipped away completely, she heard a voice that made her smile.

 _"What the- OH MY GOD! ERO SANNIN! IT'S AME-CHAN! HELP ME OUT HERE!"_

* * *

 _Ayye look who's here. It's my ramen homiee. Yeah, I should stop that._

 _So, any Shokugeki No Soma fans here?_

 _~Blu_


	4. Seeing the sun again

_Bum bum bum! I'm a lazy bum! Ah no, well *scratches head sheepishly* I had my exams again. But I have my holidays now!_

 _I just began watching Haikyuu and I'm giggling every time Kageyama yells "Hinata Bokaayy!" I'm silly._

 _I don't own Naruto_

* * *

 **SEEING THE SUN AGAIN**

Uzumaki Naruto was in a mighty grumpy mood at that time. His honourable teacher, the great toad sannin of Konoha, was off gambling yet again and ignored his training.

"Why the heck did I ever agree to go with this useless guy?" he muttered under his breath, kicking at a stone. He sunk down near a tree and went to sit when something poked him inside his jacket.

"Itai! What now?" His face softened when he took out the withered photograph from within his tattered jacket. He saw the frozen smiles in the picture, stretched wide and happy and he sighed. That photo remained in his jacket every second of every day, reminding him of the purpose of his training.

 _'_ _I can't help worrying about Ame-chan every single day.'_ Naruto clenched the picture, his nails making indents on its edge. _'I promised Sakura-chan I'd bring back Sasuke and I will, but I still can't forgive him for taking her. I don't think I ever will.'_

"Oy brat! Let's go for dinner!" Jiraiya's obnoxious voice jolted him out of his thoughts and he scowled.

"Yeah, I'm coming, you ero sannin! Done throwing away all your money yet?!" Naruto snapped back.

"What was that, you brat?! Who's paying for your meal now?!" Jiraiya ground his fist on Naruto's head, who grumbled and walked ahead instead of yelling like he usually did.

Jiraiya's expression mellowed. He knew Naruto was thinking about Ame again. He had to admit that Naruto was always happier around the girl because he felt like he had gained something he never knew the feeling of - family. Watching the two in Konoha always made him think that the two mischievous troublemakers would have definitely been related had he not known Naruto's parents.

"Listen kid," Jiraiya began hesitantly, "there's been no news from Konoha about her."

Naruto's gloomy face fell further, making Jiraiya think that he shouldn't have said that. _'Since Orochimaru was only interested in the Uchiha, it's only logical to assume that Ame wouldn't have made it. But I'm hoping against hope that isn't the case.'_

Dinner passed silently for them and Naruto wandered off somewhere, promising to be back by sunrise. Jiraiya sighed and didn't comment on it. When Naruto was out of sight, there was a small 'pop' sound on his table, a tiny slug emerging as a result.

"Oh? Katsuyu's daughter?" Jiraiya held out his palm, into which the slug crawled into and began speaking in a tinny voice,

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama asked me to tell you that there's been no information yet, but she's asked you to check the latest Bingo book. _She_ seems to be in it." the slug concluded, not knowing who the subject of the message was.

Jiraiya's eyes widened and he thanked the slug, dismissing her. He rushed out to the nearest bounty collection and drop off point, knowing that he would get an updated Bingo book there. He entered the grungy place, its seedy inhabitants making a path for him and he addressed the owner,

"Any new changes to the Bingo book?"

The owner, a portly man with a thin moustache, looked carefully at the sanin for a moment before looking away and speaking "Not much to say, besides one person." Jiraiya rolled his eyes before plopping a small pouch on the counter top, which the man swiped greedily. He then threw a book on the counter and continued wiping glasses.

Jiraiya smirked and took the book, quickly making his way out of the disgusting place. Once he was back in his room, he quickly rifled through the pages and stopped at the one he was looking for. He felt a pang of sadness on seeing the cheerful girl's face in this terrible book.

Her face held none of the sunny personality from before, looking gaunt and pale in the picture. Her hair, while long, was unhealthy and wispy. Jiraiya never felt so helpless before, seeing a student of his in such a way while he could only look at this picture.

He turned to look at her kills and was surprised. None of the people on the list had been good ninja, all of them being missing nin or civilian thugs and con men. Unconsciously, he felt a smile come onto his face _'The kid is still surviving strong.'_

What caught his eye was the last kill she had made - the bounty drop off was dated just 2 days ago. Determined, Jiraiya headed off to the most repulsive bars, slowly digging for information in various Henges.

About 3 hours later, he returned to his hotel room. Satisfied with the information he had collected, he addressed a letter to Tsunade. "Now then," he stretched tiredly, "time to go brat-hunting."

* * *

15 minutes of going round and round in the forest had turned Jiraiya in the grumpy old man he was, muttering under his breath about he was going to skin that brat within an inch of his life. Suddenly, his attention was taken by a loud yell,

"OH MY GOD! ERO-SANNIN! IT'S AME-CHAN! HELP ME OUT HERE!

Hearing that, he broke into a run and was stunned into silence at what he saw. Against all odds, although severely injured, was Ame.

 _"_ _What are you just standing there for?!"_ Naruto bellowed at him, snapping him back.

"Alright, move aside." Jiraiya kneeled down immediately and ran his hand glowing a faint green - what little he knew of medical jutsu - over her burnt arms. He cursed inwardly _'Where is Tsunade when you need her?!'_ "Naruto, check her bag." He ordered, watching Ame's face stay the same.

"There's some first-aid here! And a bunch of green-labelled scrolls!" Naruto exclaimed, emptying its contents onto the grass.

"Those are medical scrolls! Give me those!" Jiraiya swiftly went through a few and immediately unrolled one and placed it beside her. A few swift hand seals and he slammed his hand onto the seal, allowing a bright green light to envelope Ame's figure.

He sighed with relief on seeing the burns on her arm mostly gone, her skin looking nearly healed and pinkish. Jiraiya laughed out aloud "Just how prepared was she? Stealing medical scrolls, hah."

"Ame...chan..." Naruto's voice became thick as he saw her properly.

Suddenly, her chakra gave a sharp jolt that made both Naruto and Jiraiya look at her. It was then he noticed the blood that was pooling around her back. Jiraiya paled drastically when he realised that's where her seal was and barked at Naruto "Turn around now!"

Naruto did so without question, his voice tense "What's wrong?!"

Jiraiya ignored him and gently pushed Ame onto her back, pushing her shirt up only to gasp. A large circle on her back in black ink was slowly disintegrating into pieces, lines that looked like joints breaking up. He then caught sight of two bleeding puncture marks on her neck. _"Orochimaru!"_ he swore in anger.

Jiraiya and Naruto became alarmed when chakra began rising from her body, enveloping her in pale, silvery strands. "Naruto, move back!" the sannin yelled and threw himself back with Naruto just as the chakra erupted around her, breaking bits of the ground around her.

"What's happening?!" Naruto screamed, trying to get closer.

"No, you can't!" Jiraiya held him back. "Orochimaru broke her seal forcibly, we have to wait until it finishes!" He didn't pay heed to the confused look his student gave him.

The silvery chakra suddenly turned a bright, opaque blue and began swirling around her in a small tornado, completely blocking their view. The tornado moved faster and faster, occasionally striking out at the tree branches nearby until abruptly, it vanished.

What they saw made them gasp.

The Ame they knew was no longer there. Instead, a girl with pale, porcelain skin that and pink, shapely lips like a doll's and hair as black as the night lay there. Through her ebony locks, a few strands of electric blue weaved through along with one bright lock on her forehead.

"Is that...?" Naruto whispered in disbelief, not even able to construct a sentence.

Jiraiya meanwhile, was overcome by realization. He smiled triumphantly "Yes! So I was right!"

"What do you mean, ero sannin?" Naruto frowned at him. "And what's this seal you talked about?"

"All in good time, Naruto. Let's get her to rest first." Jiraiya bent down and picked up the girl, frowning at how light she saw. "We're going to have to feed her a lot."

"Wait a minute! How is that girl even Ame?!" Naruto protested.

Jiraiya refused to answer him until she was tucked in his bed with the blanket over her. "Now Naruto," he turned to the impatient blonde, "listen very carefully because I won't repeat myself."

For once, Naruto nodded silently.

"When Ame first told me about her seal, I found that she had two of them on her. One, I undid. Do recall her having fire element chakra before, then it changed to water and lightning?"

Naruto's mouth opened as he remembered the change. Jiraiya nodded and continued "That was a seal blocking her true chakra nature. The second seal, I had no knowledge of, but I had made a guess that it was disguising her in some manner.

The seal itself, was triggered to release at a certain time. But Orochimaru bit her right where the seal drew its energy from. When the seal no longer had the energy to maintain itself, it began breaking down. What we saw just now, was the seal breaking entirely and thus revealing, Ame's true appearance."

Naruto was silent for a long time before saying "So you're saying, that the Ame we've being seeing till now, was only a false appearance?"

"Yes, but Naruto," Jiraiya smiled warmly "she's the still the same person inside."

Naruto's tensed expression softened "I hope so."

"Itai..."

The men were startled at the low, soft groan from the bed and they turned to see Ame stirring. She put a hand to her head, grimacing slightly and opened her eyes. Naruto gave a small gasp which made her turn to him, displaying a pair of brilliant, deep blue eyes that looked like the twilight sky.

"Naruto...?" she whispered unsurely. He nodded as hesitantly but the next minute, she had thrown her arms around him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. "I thought I'd never see you again." She choked out between tears.

Naruto's body relaxed and he hugged her back, his own tears flowing out freely "Me too 'ttebayo." It wasn't until he hugged her that he realised - he had his family back.

When she spotted Jiraiya looking fondly at the two of them, it brought on a fresh wave of tears and blubbering incomprehensible words, she pulled him into a hug as well.

After the crying session (where Jiraiya denied having shed any tears even though he was blowing his nose loudly), they informed Ame that her appearance had changed. "Eh?! But how?!" she exclaimed and began examining her hair. "Wait a minute, do you have a mirror?"

Jiraiya said there was one in the bathroom and she immediately went to it, only to gasp softly "This is...my old appearance."

"Your old appearance?!" Narutpo exclaimed with a frown.

"Before I came here...this was how I looked like. For some reason, my appearance changed to match an illustration I had made before." She explained softly, smiling at the mirror. "It feels like...I've got a part of me back."

* * *

By evening, she was almost back to good health, with just chakra exhaustion being a problem. Turns out, she was extremely hungry and now, she was almost inhaling the food off any plate kept in front of her. Jiraiya found himself grimacing at the lightening weight of his wallet while Naruto was laughing hard at her, deciding to join her in an impromptu eating match.

As Jiraiya watched Naruto narrating dramatically of the training he had undergone till now to her, he noticed something. Her amount of chakra had grown significantly, even from the time he had known her in Konoha.

 _'_ _Logically speaking, even if her chakra grew due to training, it should be just 10 or 20 per cent more. But hers is almost a 100 per cent more!'_ He frowned and swirled the last bits of sake in his glass, but stopped abruptly _'Wait a minute, her chakra only grew after the seal was broken! Then this means...!'_

His eyes widened as he looked at the girl _'Either the seal was blocking most of her chakra, or it consumed that much chakra to maintain itself! Her chakra is close to being at par with Naruto's now!_

She was giggling at Naruto who was pouting at her. Suddenly, her face contorted and she clutched her head. "Ame-chan, are you okay?!" Naruto hovered nervously while Jiraiya came over worriedly.

"My head..." she mumbled. "It's...filling with images." Before she could say another word, she passed out into Naruto's chest, who exclaimed in shock.

"What happened now?! I thought she was healed!"

"This may be a part of her seal again." Jiraiya frowned, gathering the girl into his arms and putting her to bed. Her face still grimaced and contorted, her limbs twitching while she remained unconscious. "Like I said, the seal was hiding her real self, which may or may not have included memories."

Naruto nodded, looking at her in concern.

* * *

FIRST PERSON

 _"_ _...Sister Rayne! Can you teach me?"_

 _"_ _Good work, Rayne. With this, our city is secure."_

 _"_ _You are the next Maiden of Horizon, Rayne. Bring peace to this endless war..."_

 _"_ _...dear! Dinner's ready!"_

 _"_ _Chiheisen no otome, tasukete...!"_

After the last voice, I felt everything go silent around me. A warm glow began to light up behind my eyelids and I felt a gentle voice envelop me,

 _"_ _You can be the horizon that separates the earth and the sky, or you could be the rain that joins them."_

With a gasp, I jolted awake, breathing heavily. What had I just seen? Blurred images of an urban city with tall, but old looking buildings, people who were as pale-skinned as me, dressed in quite a modern manner as compared to Shinobi.

What shocked me, was that they spoke in English. All of them, now that I think of it, had somewhat Caucasian facial features but Asian as well. I walked to the bathroom mirror and took a look. My face as well, was not entirely Japanese but hinted at a foreign ethnicity.

But what puzzled me the most, were the names that people called me. _'Maiden of Horizon? Rayne...?'_ Suddenly, I gasped as a memory sunk in.

"Rayne is my old name. Rayne is my real name!"

"Say what now?!" I turned around to see Naruto gawking at me with Jiraiya at the door.

I grinned excitedly "I got some memories about where I came from and who I am! I got my real name back!"

"So even your name isn't Ame?!"

"No," I smiled and explained "But it was the closest to my real name. Rayne's phonetic sound is a word in the English language which means ame! And I thought of Ame because I unconsciously must have realized that!"

Jiraya looked thoughtful "What about your last name then?"

At that, my smile faded "I...still don't know that." Jiraiya roughly ruffled my hair "Don't worry about it kid. It's Rayne now, is it? Sounds like a fancy name."

"Not really, old man!" I grinned, tidying my hair.

"Argh this is so confusing! First it's Akemi, then it's Ame and now it's Rayne! How do you expect me to remember all that?!" Naruto whined, holding his head dramatically.

"You'll manage, Naruto." I said humorously, then glanced at Jiraiya who began writing on a parchment. "To whom is that letter to, ojii-san?"

"To the current Hokage, informing her about your reappearance." Jiraiya gave a devious grin. "I'll drop you off to Konoha as soon as possible."

"Um, about that, ojii-san..." I interrupted him before he could say anything else. He looked up curiously. "I want to stay here and train with you."

* * *

 _MWAHAHAHAHAHA DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING DIDJA?!_

 _Any and all questions are welcome. If you like, you can ask me on my Tumblr account, the details of which are on my profile. (SOMEBODY TALK TO ME ABOUT HAIKYUU PLEASE)_

 _Thank you. *bows* and now, time for my vanishing act._

 _Ohohoho_

 _~Blu_


	5. News from home

_I know that no amount of apologies will make up for my absence. I want you all to know that I'm truly sorry and I had personal reasons. Thank you to all the readers who stayed patiently up till now and encouraged me and I'm sorry to have disappointed the readers who left._

 _The Ninja Way will be more amazing and interesting then ever, I'll make sure of it._

 _I don't own Naruto_

* * *

 **NEWS FROM HOME**

"WHAT?!"

Civilians passing by the Hokage tower flinched on hearing the shocked voice boom out of the building, shaking the dust off nearby structures.

"Shizune! Get me all of Konoha team members and their senseis!" Tsunade demanded, slapping a hand on her desk and creating a crack. Shizune yelped and immediately scurried off with Tonton swinging wildly from her arms.

Within 10 minutes, every team member with their sensei was standing uncomfortably in the now-cramped office. "Is something the problem, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked hesitantly.

Tsunade gave a smile, which relaxed some of the members present, "It's good news. Ame has been found."

Surprise ranged from everyone's faces, "She escaped from Orochimaru?!" Tenten gasped "Did she kill Orochimaru?!" Kiba exclaimed stupidly, making Shikamaru deadpan at him.

"I doubt that a sanin can be killed that easily." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but looked concerned "If she did manage to escape, I don't think she left unscathed."

Tsunade nodded solemnly "Shikamaru is right, however, there have been new developments as well. I shall tell you the whole story from the letter I've received from Jiraiya." Everyone fell silent as she began to narrate it,

 _It was most unexpected when Naruto found her lying severely injured in the forest. According to what she has told me, she spent the year at Orochimaru's devising an escape plan the whole time and she was quite prepared for it._

 _But during her escape, Orochimaru himself and his henchman Kabuto attacked her, leaving her in a critical state. I don't know how she managed it, but she teleported all the way from Otogakure to the forest where we found her in that state. We managed to heal her with medical scrolls that she had stolen on her way out there._

"That was quite the foresight she had." Neji nodded with a small smile.

"I'll say." Kiba chuckled accompanied by a yip from Akamaru.

 _But the problem starts there. I came to know of this during the one month gap before the finals of the Chuunin exam. She had come to me for information on some seals she had on herself. One of them, which was a seal to hide her true chakra nature, I released. The other was beyond my caliber but I guessed it was disguising her in some way._

 _It proved to be right because when she escaped from Orochimaru, he had inflicted a wound on her that broke her seal forcibly. As a result, Naruto and I witnessed something shocking, to say the very least._

 _She no longer looks like what she was before. I don't have the resources to send a picture right now, so I'll just describe her. She has long, ebony hair with bright blue streaks through it, equally bright blue eyes and very pale skin. But on the inside, she is still the same person._

 _Lastly and the most important thing, her name is not Ame._

Everyone gasped again at that. "Do-Does this mean that seal was disguising her name as well?" Hinata asked softly.

"So it would seem." Shikamaru muttered thoughtfully, burning with curiosity.

"Mou, so confusing! She's changed her name thrice now!" Ino shook out her hair with an exasperated expression.

"I don't think she did it on purpose, Ino." Chouji sighed.

"Do you lot want to hear her real name or not?!" Tsunade snapped and everyone quieted down.

 _Through some fragments of memories that she saw, it seems her name is Rayne. With that said, she does not wish to return to Konoha at the moment, but wishes to stay and train with me._

 _Oh and she says that she misses everyone a lot and apologizes for not returning immediately. She feels that being in Orochimaru's lair has changed her a lot and she does not want to return until she feels worthy of being a Konoha kunoichi again._

Tsunade ended there and folded up the parchment. Everyone was silent before breaking into protests on why she wasn't coming back immediately. Hinata looked at her cousin and smiled when she saw the disappointed look on his face _'Ame-no, Rayne-chan has become quite a precious person to Neji-nii-san as well.'_

"You will hear news from her, I will be keeping in touch with Jiraiya obviously." Tsunade rolled her eyes "Now scram, everybody."

 _'Keeping it classy, Hokage-sama.'_ Kakashi sweat dropped but then smiled under his mask. He couldn't describe the relief he felt when he heard that his student was alive. When he was away from everyone in front of the memorial stone, he sank to the ground and nearly cried, whispering "She's alive, Rin, Obito. My student is alive. I'm not such a bad teacher after all, then."

* * *

Meanwhile, a hawk from Konoha had departed to Suna and after a few days, the Kazekage found the bird on his window sill.

'News from Konoha?' he hesitantly took the scroll from the bird and unrolled it. His eyes widened at the contents and he gasped, making Temari and Kankurou look up from their work.

"Gaara? What's wrong?"

"She's..." Gaara spoke softly, a faint smile curling on his lips "She's been found."

"What? Ame's alive?!" Temari gasped and a smile spread over her face while Kankurou grinned.

"Ah, one more thing." Gaara murmured, looking at the scroll once more "It seems her name isn't 'Ame'."

"Huh?"

* * *

"What?!"

Kabuto flinched when Orochimaru informed Sasuke of her escape. His voice was like splintering ice in the heavy silence and suddenly, the room sprang to life with the furious crackle of the chidori.

A bloodcurdling scream later, a henchman of Orochimaru lay burned beyond recognition on the ground. "There's no use getting angry, Sasuke-kun. She most likely didn't survive with those wounds I inflicted." Orochimaru hissed with a sneer, licking his lips unpleasantly.

Two furiously red eyes glared at him from the darkness, but did not dare to do anything else. He closed his eyes and uttered a soft "No."

"What was that?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"I said no, she's alive. I can feel it. She won't die by the likes of you." Sasuke smirked slightly at the burn wounds on Orochimaru's already useless arms and his seething face. "I'll find her." He made a promise to himself and left the room.

 _'Ame, why did you leave? I told you not to leave!'_ he cursed when he was in his room, throwing around a few things when among them, he found a faded and tattered top that used to belong to her. Holding it between his fingers, he sank to the floor _'I want you, no I need you back!'_ His Sharingan spun furiously in accordance with his thoughts. ' _I'll make you regret leaving me. Then you'll know, the safest place was beside me all along,'_

* * *

Rayne suddenly felt a shiver run up her back and she got an unpleasant premonition. _'Nothing yet, I guess.'_ She shook it off and watched Naruto argue with a toad summoning of his and giggling at the exchange. Jiraiya had given up long back and was going through the manuscripts for his next novel with a serious expression which greatly contradicted with the steady nosebleed flowing down his chin.

"Ojii-san!" She whined, fidgeting in her seat, "Can't I start training already?!"

"No, you're still recovering. Stop asking me already, brat!"

She blew a raspberry at him, while Naruto's yelling increased, finally making Jiraiya snap and throw his shoe at the boy. After he was done yelling at Naruto, who was sulking in a corner now, he turned to Rayne and said "Read the book, if you want something to do."

Rayne sighed and glanced at the book of Fuinjutsu lying on her lap. She had been reading nonstop and there was only so much of reading you could do before you went mad. "Oh yeah, kid? What else did you get in that bag of yours?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

She hummed thoughtfully "Just medical scrolls and money, why?" Realising her mistake, she blanched when she saw the look on his face on hearing the word 'money'. Fearing for her money, she quickly teleported to her bag and hugged it tightly, shooting a glare at Jiraiya who was eyeballing the bag. "Don't even think about it, besides..." her grip loosened on it as she frowned at the ground "It's blood money."

"Ow!" she yelped when Jiraiya's fist knocked her on the head.

"Don't even start with that. I saw the people you killed, all of them were criminals and missing nin, so what you did wasn't bad." He spoke firmly, making her eyes soften.

"There'll always be a bit of Konoha in you." Jiraiya ruffled her hair. "Even if you're not born in the village, you've inherited the Will of Fire."

Her head snapped up at that, her eyes wide as she registered his words. Jiraiya panicked when her eyes began welling up with tears "O-Oy! Don't go blubbering on me now, brat!"

She laughed and wiped her eyes "I won't, jii-san."

"Will you cut that out?!"

At dinner time, Jiraiya watched her carefully again for any further developments from her seal. She seemed to have mostly healed and was insisting on starting training. As he watched Naruto gobble down ramen for the umpteenth time, Rayne chuckled and brought food to her own lips with a gentle movement of her chopsticks.

Jiraiya frowned on noticing something _'Her movements seem...very graceful, like they were practised. Now that I think about it, her features seem very regal, like she was royalty of some kind. Straight posture and pretty refined movements...hm, I wonder if this can be a clue to her past?'_

"What are you staring so intensely for, ojii-san? You're creeping me out." She commented jokingly, faking a shudder.

Naruto deadpanned "Really ero sannin? Even Rayne-chan? That's gross."

The sannin twitched with irritation and threw his wooden sandal at the boy's head, reveling in his pained yelp while she rolled around laughing.

Next morning, Jiraiya talked to Rayne about her training "Look kid, I know you're very eager to learn Fuinjutsu, but let me say this - your level of chakra control isn't enough to perform sealing." He hastened to continue when her face fell "Which is why! I'm going to teach you something else!"

"But Fuinjutsu?" she pressed with a frown.

"I'll teach you the concepts, but performing them will have to wait. I want you to improve your chakra control by training under Tsunade and then move on to performing the seals under Kakashi's observation." Jiraiya explained. "Meanwhile, I want to teach you something else."

"That is?" Rayne raised her eyebrows curiously.

Jiraiya smiled mysteriously "You'll see."

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, a message from Jiraiya-sama." A tinny voice piped up from Tsunade's desk, making her look up.

"Hm? Oh, good job." Tsunade took the scroll offered by the slug and dismissed it. Unfurling it, she read it quickly,

 _Rayne seems to be stable now, but I feel there's a lot more to her past than what her seal is giving away currently. I know it's usually my area of expertise, but I want you to do some research on her origins, as you have better access to records._

 _Her features are a mix of Japanese and some foreign origin. If I had to take a guess, I would say somewhat European, the inhabitants of the far west. I know not much is known about that land, but you should have some information regarding instances where Europeans came migrating here. By chance if you do find something, try and look up their high ranking officials, monarchs or royalty of any sort. Our Rayne just might be one of them._

 _Tsunade, believe me when I say that watching this girl is like watching Minato all over again. Her grasp of Space-Time ninjutsu reminds me of my old student and she's eager to learn Fuinjutsu. However, I've told her that she won't be learning Fuinjutsu now, but I will make sure she learns the concepts._

 _You see, her chakra control isn't quite perfect yet. Therefore, I want her to train under you for that reason when I'm done with her, only then can she actually perform seals. Meanwhile, I'll be teaching her the Summoning Jutsu._

 _Hope everything is well there_

 _Jiraiya_

"What are you upto now...?" Tsunade frowned suspiciously but shook her head. _'That girl as a student huh? It might just be interesting. But I'm worried about one thing...'_

Her gaze traveled to the door which swung open to reveal her apprentice. "Shishou? Is everything alright?" Sakura asked with a sheaf of papers in her arms.

"Ah, it's nothing, just a letter from Jiraiya." Tsunade spoke, watching her carefully. Sakura's mouth tightened a fraction and her eyes went a little cold before she answered,

"Any more news of Rayne and Naruto?"

Tsunade shook her head _'Sakura...she becomes a different person when she hears anything related to Rayne. The change is almost frightening to watch, just what happened between the two of them?'_

When Sakura turned to put the papers away, a dark look crossed her face. _'Shishou seems to be hiding something, is it about her? I wonder though, why aren't any records of her? She must have come from another village perhaps. No family or affiliations to speak of and yet everyone trusts her...it's so pathetic!'_

The ends of her lips curled up unpleasantly _'I wonder if I can change that. That would have to wait until she returns though...'_

* * *

A sliver of doubt crossed the snake Sannin's mind as Sasuke prepared to make yet another trip outside the hideout. The young Uchiha had been doing that more and more often ever since she had disappeared. Orochimaru of course knew, that he was trying to find her. _'It's folly though, no one can survive such wounds. Such childishness from him...it's as if he's obsessed with her. But he's been indulged enough.'_

"Sasuke-kun, enough of this behaviour now." He hissed, blocking the path of his apprentice when he tried to leave.

Sasuke didn't budge, but his red eyes glared up at the snake sannin "Let me pass."

"Enough now." Orochimaru's chakra seeped out, enveloping him malevolently. Sasuke went rigid as fear locked down his limbs and his Sharingan faded out. With a sneering smile, the snake said "That's better now...go rest until your training."

Sasuke said nothing, gritting his teeth and walking out stiffly. He tried to will the shaking in his arms to go away but grew furious when it persisted. _'Not yet it seems...I'm not strong enough yet to leave.' He acknowledged, calming down slowly. 'Ame...wait for me. Don't think you can hide from me.'_

* * *

Rayne shuddered again, frowning at its occurrence. It was something like sensing chakra...but not quite. Instead, it felt like somebody's thoughts or intentions that she was detecting. Shaking her head, she looked up from the book she was studying to see Jiraiya going over the drafts for his next book.

"Ojii-san, can we talk?"

"Hm? What is it?"

Rayne hesitated, casting Naruto a glance to see if he was really asleep. On hearing a snore, she continued "Have you kept up with Kakashi sensei's progress on his jutsu?"

Jiraiya looked at her seriously, nodding. "It's nearly perfect. All they need is a large chakra source, which Tsunade is working on."

She looked relieved but continued "I think...we should start collecting intel on the member we'll be going after. I'll be needing information on the time and circumstances of his defection."

Jiraiya thought for a while before nodding "Sounds good. Where to?"

Rayne grinned "Iwagakure."

* * *

 _I'm sure a lot of you have guessed the plan now *wink wink*_

 _I wonder who's in Iwa...*whistles*_

 _~Blu_


End file.
